


Strangers on a Train

by needleyecandy



Category: Thor - All Media Types
Genre: Fluff and Smut, Happy Ending, Love at First Sight, M/M, Meet-Cute, Private Investigators, Trains
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-24
Updated: 2016-10-24
Packaged: 2018-08-24 11:06:11
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,306
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8369872
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/needleyecandy/pseuds/needleyecandy
Summary: Thor's morning is almost comically horrible... right up until the most beautiful man he's ever seen takes the seat across from him on the train. Conversation comes as easily as time goes, and before they know it the man is rushing to not miss his stop. Thor has to find him again.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [JaneDoe876](https://archiveofourown.org/users/JaneDoe876/gifts).
  * In response to a prompt by [JaneDoe876](https://archiveofourown.org/users/JaneDoe876/pseuds/JaneDoe876) in the [ThorLokiPromptMeme](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/ThorLokiPromptMeme) collection. 



> Happy birthday to JaneDoe876! I wasn't able to get quite everything from the prompt, but I hope you like it all the same. 
> 
> For the prompt:
> 
> _Thor rides the train to work everyday, one day he sees this beautiful man, he sits right across from him and they get to talking all goes well, but before Thor can ask him what his name is he gets off the train. How they reunite is up to author. Body-worship is welcomed, I don't want Loki to be mean to Thor in any way. Humor is always welcomed, no angst please or other dark nature. Bonus if they both hire the same private Eye to find each other. Double bonus if there's a grand romantic gesture that involves the song Love Of My Life by Santana._

Thor's day improved immeasurably at the stop after his own.

It had started out comically wrong, like one of those movie montages where everything that _can_ go bad _does_ go bad. His alarm didn't go off because he'd forgotten to charge his phone and it died in the night; Mjolnir had coughed up a hairball in the hallway and he stepped right in the middle of it, the cold stinking lump clinging to his sock as he cringed and tore it off; a seal on his coffeemaker chose that day to bust and sent boiling-hot coffee spewing across the kitchen. A hot shower would have gone a long way to making things better... if only there had been hot water, which there wasn't. And then his train pulled into the station early. That would have been fine - it sat on the platform until leaving at the scheduled time – except that he was stuck in his car on the wrong side of the tracks. Which meant that on top of everything else, he was going to be late to work.

The metal benches at the station were cold and he shivered as he sat there waiting for the next one to arrive, glowering at the empty tracks. When the next one arrived there wasn't space left at any of the tables where he usually sat to get some work done, so after he stopped in the café he took one of the double seats that faced an empty pair. At least he could stretch out his legs. He was sitting, gazing blankly out the smudged plexiglass window and trying to choke down the sludge that the café car attendant had the audacity to call coffee when someone bumped his foot. "Oh, pardon me," said a voice.

"No problem," he said, glancing up, and that was when his day didn't look so bad. In fact, it suddenly looked really good. Like, six-two and lean and chiseled cheekbones good. He smiled. "Really. No problem at all."

The man's answering smile made his light eyes glow. "How's the coffee today?"

Thor made a face.

"Ah, I see. Better than usual. Would you mind watching my bag for a moment?"

"Not at all."

Thor watched him go. The rear view was good, too. Long limbs, long black hair worn back from his face, smooth and elegant motions even with the way the train was jerking about. He returned twelve minutes later. Not that Thor was counting. He caught Thor's eye before taking a sip of his coffee and wincing dramatically.

"Even better than mine," Thor said. "They must have known you were coming and made a fresh pot."

The man's lips curled upwards. They were on the thin side, but expressive, and Thor found himself wondering how much they would redden when properly kissed. How much that delicate flush in his cheeks would deepen and whether it would extend downwards, tinting his neck, his chest... "It must be my lucky day." His eyes had dropped to Thor's mouth before he spoke and Thor wondered how much they were still joking.

Thor scrambled for something else to say. "Is this your usual commute?" As conversation starters went, it was feeble, but there really wasn't anything else to say about the abominable coffee, and fellow commuters always seemed eager to share their tales of woe.

He got a shake of the head. “I'm early today. I usually work at home part time, but I woke up before my alarm and figured that as long as I had a presentation, I may as well go in."

"Oh. Do you usually catch the express?" Thor asked. It ran just a few minutes after this one, and if only it picked up at Thor's stop he would have negotiated different work hours to take it. But then, Thor didn't really mind driving to another stop if he had a good reason...

"No set train. Just whichever is running when I'm ready to go."

"Oh. That sounds nice."

"It is. I'm really lucky to have a job I like _and_ flextime. That's basically a unicorn. Around here, anyway."

Thor nodded. "True. Right now I'd be glad enough of either-or."

"That's how my last place was." The man shook his head ruefully and his neat ponytail swished against the seat. "If I'd realized then how bad it was for me, I'd have tried to get out sooner."

"Yeah. I know I should hunt, but it's hard when you've got something stable."

The man nodded in sympathy. "Are you supporting...?" His eyes flicked down to Thor's left hand. _Fuck, yes,_ Thor thought.

"My grandparents," Thor answered quickly. "They needed to move into a care facility, and they didn't have enough savings to pay for a decent one. My parents are helping my brother through grad school, so I said I'd make up the difference on the home. It's worth it, of course, but it does make it hard to give up something that pays well, so-"

" _Shit!_ This is my stop, I'm so sorry-" the man gasped. He snatched up his bag and was gone before Thor had the presence of mind to follow. The train doors closed and Thor looked out the window.

The man was standing there, a look on his face Thor didn't know how to read. The whistle sounded and Thor pressed his fingers to the glass and watched him disappear.

*

"It's different this time! I know I always say that, but this time it really is."

"And I always believe you. It's different every time, Thor, but sometimes you just have to enjoy something for what it was. You flirted with an attractive man and he flirted back. Can't you, for once, let yourself just enjoy that? It really is terribly romantic, strangers on a train."

"Mom, that's a movie about murder."

" _I_ know that. Who started you on Hitchcock when you were barely bigger than a pipsqueak?"

"I'm still not sure that was the best parenting move."

She snorted. "It all depends on the kid. I didn't let Baldr watch any of that until he was much older. You were as belligerent as a rhino from the day you were born. I could have let you grow up on The Exorcist instead of Sesame Street and you'd have been fine."

"Well, maybe that's why I have to find this guy. I'm too belligerent to give up."

Her laughter rippled down the phone line. "I can see that. It's not really the sort of thing we handle in Missing Persons, though. You need to place a few online ads and if that doesn't work you're going to have to hire a PI."

"You don't think you could, just maybe? A little?"

"An investigation based on the fact that he's hot and Hartford is his nearest station?" she answered drily.

"And he has black hair," Thor added.

"I hear the Missed Connections section on Craigslist sometimes gets results. I gotta go, honey."

Thor sighed. "Thanks, mom." He hung up and opened a new tab on his browser.

His ads didn't work. He tried for two weeks, reposting once every two days so that it wouldn't get too far down in the lists, but not so frequent that he looked like a stalker.

*

"Thor, as a public servant, I can't recommend a particular business. I know it's a pain, but the rule is there for a good reason."

"Can't you, like, leave a name up on your computer while you go to the bathroom or something?"

She sighed, the air sounding harsh over the mouthpiece of her phone. "Do you have a pen?"

"Pen and paper, all set."

"Call 555-8734 and ask for Mike. He'll help you."

"Thanks, mom. You're the best."

It was kind of exciting, hiring an actual private investigator, and he felt a little knot in his stomach as he dialed.

"Yallo?"

"Hello, I'm calling to speak to Mike? The private investigator?"

"PI? Who's this?" Not the most professional telephone demeanor, but that didn't matter if he could find the man from the train.

"My name is Thor Odinson, and I-"

"Odinson? Frigga's boy?"

"Yes, that's right..."

Mike instantly warmed up. "Great cop, your mom. Honest and dedicated. A real credit to the badge."

"Thank you, sir, I know she takes it very seriously. I asked her to recommend a PI and she gave me your number."

A low chuckle. "Of course she did. I'm retired, lets me say things she can't. Not that it would stop anyone else. If you need a PI, you need Rogers Investigations."

Thor typed the name into his laptop. "On eighty-second?"

"That's the one. Do you know one time a family hired him to find their MIA son? And when I say MIA, I mean someone saw him fall from a sheer drop, there just weren't any witnesses who saw him hit the bottom. So the family hires him and he goes over to Europe, to some country where he doesn't even speak the language, and two weeks later he shows up in New York with the son in tow. Apologized, said it would have been faster but without the kid's passport they had to spend a couple days at the embassy."

"He sounds perfect. Thank you very much for your help."

"No problem. Give my best to your mom, kid."

"I will."

Thor called and got an appointment for eleven a.m. two days later. The minutes moved like molasses.

The meeting went pretty much how he had expected, right up until the end. The investigator, Steve, was perfectly polite, and after listening to Thor's story and taking notes, he began a long series of questions.

"And so you and this man were on the train together for nearly half an hour?"

"That's right, Hartford to Plumegate."

"Plenty of time to have traded numbers."

"It is, but I didn't know he was getting off so soon, and from the way he jumped up I don't think he realized how fast the time was passing. I really feel like we would have traded numbers, if he hadn't had to get off when he did."

Steve leaned back in his chair, twirling his pen between his fingers, and sighed. "You see, the one problem with me taking this case is that I don't have any evidence to show that you aren't a stalker."

Thor's eyes widened. "What?"

Steve shrugged. "It's happened before. Someone gets away from an abusive ex, starts a new life, and then the ex shows up with a story just like this one, the PI tracks the person down, and pow. I need to make sure that's not what's happening here."

"But I don't know how to prove I'm not doing that."

"Well, that's the thing. I'll need to investigate you first, and that's going to be added to your bill. Another thousand, at least."

"That's a lot of money," Thor said. "Um... what if I gave you my photo with my number on it, and if you find him, you give it to him? Then he can call me or not. You don't tell me anything except whether or not you found him. Would that be okay?"

"That's a much shorter report than I'm used to giving my clients," Steve said, chuckling, "but I see no problem, as long as you're comfortable with it."

*****

Steve rose and shook Thor's hand before seeing him out to the lobby where he paused to pay the intern his retainer. Steve gathered everything into a folder with Thor's name, nice and neat, before heading out for lunch.

"What's my next appointment, Veronica?"

She clicked open the calendar tab. "Loki Farbautison, one p.m. Looking for someone he met on a train."

_It can't be,_ Steve told himself. _It's too easy._

_*_

"...and we got along so well, I didn't realize the time passing until all of a sudden we were at my station. It was only habit that made me get off at all. The minute the doors closed I realized I should have stayed on and taken a cab to work from the next one," Loki explained earnestly.

"I did just take on a new case this morning..." Steve said.

Loki's face fell.

"But you know what, I'll squeeze you in. Call me a softy. There's just something about strangers on a train."

"Thank you _so_ much," Loki said, shaking his hand.

Steve stood at the window, watching the street, until he saw Loki leave the building. He stuck his head into the waiting room. "Hey, Veronica. You're never going to guess..."

*****

It was only two days later that Thor got the call.

"I gave him your number," Steve said.

"You did? What did he say?"

There was a rustle of paper. "I'm sorry, our contract stipulates that I don't tell you anything but whether or not I found him and handed over your photo and number." He sounded amused, though. That had to be good.

"Sorry. You're right. Wow, that was really fast, I'm impressed. Thank you so much."

"My intern will be putting a bill in the mail for the balance."

"Great. Thank you," Thor said again.

"You're welcome. Good luck, you two."

His phone rang again ten minutes later. He made it a habit not to answer numbers he didn't know. He answered.

The voice was tentative. "Hi, is this Thor?"

"Yeah..."

"We met on the train a few weeks ago, and-"

"Hi! I'm so happy you called. I'm Thor. But I guess you knew that." It was lucky they were on the phone because his cheeks were already flaming.

"Yeah." He could hear the smile. "I'm Loki."

"Hi, Loki. Are you free tonight?"

Loki's smile had grown. "I am. Where do you live?"

"Not far from you, I don’t think. Blaketon."

"There's a new Greek place on the north side of Hartford that's supposed to be really good. It's probably sort of halfway between us. Do you like Greek?"

"I do."

"Eight o'clock?"

"Perfect."

"I'll make the reservation. Well... see you then."

"Yeah. See you then."

Thor hung up and added Loki to his contacts before calling back. "What's the address?"

"Oh. Sorry. 1314 Chesterton."

"Great. Well... see you tonight."

"Yeah."

Thor looked it up, reading all the reviews he could find and looking at photos of the dining room to get some idea how fancy it was. It looked casual, which was not usually a problem, but in situations like this it was easier to know what to wear somewhere fancy – he just had one suit. In the end, he settled for a pair of deep-dyed black jeans and a soft red henley with the top button undone.

Thor arrived at a quarter til eight. There were some seats at the bar so he sat down and ordered a mineral water. His fiddling hands didn't look so much like nervousness when they had a drink between them. 

It was three til when he heard Loki's voice behind him. "Hi, Thor."

He spun around and stood up. "Hi," he said. What now? A handshake? A hug?

Loki leaned forward and brushed a swift kiss over his cheek. "It's nice to see you again."

"It's nice to see you, too."

"Our table's nearly ready."

"Oh! Of course." Thor hastily finished his water, determined not to sneeze at the fizz going up his nose.

They were seated by a window overlooking the field in back of the restaurant. It was dotted with red clover and soft blue chicory.

"I can't believe I found you," they said in unison. They burst into laughter.

"Wait, what?" Thor managed.

"I hired a PI. How do you think I got your number?"

" _I_ hired a PI. I told him to find you and give you my number."

They stared at each other.

"Easiest case he ever got," Loki said.

"Yeah. And I can't even get mad."

"Me either."

They fell silent, content to sit there and look at one another. The candle between them flickered and the light on their faces leapt and danced.

"Good evening, gentlemen. Do you prefer still or sparkling?"

They looked up.

"Please, I insist," Thor said, nodding to Loki.

Loki looked up at the waiter. "Sparkling, I think."

Their glasses were filled and the partial bottle set on the table. "May I bring you any drinks while you look at the menu?"

"Champagne?" Thor suggested.

Loki's lips quirked. "Of course."

The waiter nodded and disappeared.

"I guess we should pick what we want to eat."

"Yeah."

"What do you think?" Loki asked.

The truth was that Thor thought anything without too much in the way of onions or garlic sounded good. Just watching Loki talk, Thor knew he wanted to kiss him later, and he also wanted Loki coming back for more. "It's been a really long time since I've had Greek food," Thor admitted.

"Oh. Should I order a few things to share, maybe?"

"That sounds perfect," Thor said, grateful.

It didn’t much matter, anyway. By the time the food arrived Thor was so caught up in their conversation he barely tasted it.

"There's a nice park a block away from my building, and it looks like a gorgeous night," Loki said as he ate the last bite of grilled halloumi. "Would you maybe like to get carry out dessert and eat outside?"

"I'd love to," Thor told him.

There was a minor squabble when they both reached for the bill ("I invited you," Loki pointed out, to which Thor replied that he had seen the detective a whole two hours sooner) and it was settled only when Thor agreed to Loki's suggestion that Thor treat next time.

Thor hopped in his car and followed Loki to Hartford. Loki parked beside a leafy square and Thor nabbed a spot around the corner. He found Loki near the middle of the park, sitting on a bench and unwrapping their baklava. Thor sat down beside him.

Loki held up a piece for Thor. He took a bite and held up the other one for Loki. They fed each other, fingers sticky-sweet with honey and when the baklava was gone they kept going.

"I live right over there..." Loki said as Thor sucked on his fingers, tongue playing across the tips.

"Let's go," Thor said.

They were already kissing in the elevator, squeaky and jerky as it was. Loki unlocked his door by feel and Thor saw nothing of his apartment until they got to the bedroom.

Loki broke away from their kiss. "This wallpaper was not my choice. I want you to know that. Maybe red roses, but not orange, and definitely nothing that looks so much like a cabbage."

Thor looked up at it and laughed. "I'm pretty sure I would have assumed that, but thank you for telling me."

Thor removed Loki's clothes almost reverently, his adoring hands taking in the softness of the newly revealed skin. Loki undressed Thor in a trail of kisses, his lips showing the path to a place that could be found no other way but this.

"How do you prefer?" Thor asked.

"I switch, but I think I'd like to bottom tonight. If that's okay with you."

"Whatever you want."

"My stuff is in the second drawer there." Loki waved vaguely towards the narrow chest of drawers that served him for a nightstand.

One side of the drawer was sticky and Thor had to fight it open to find within some lube packets and a string of condoms. He tore one off the end and scooped up three of the too-small sachets. He put them on top of the dresser where they would be convenient when he needed them and turned around to find that Loki had settled onto his back and was watching Thor with level eyes. Thor looked him over, drinking him in. Loki's face and hands he had already gotten to admire at dinner, but not his arms, sleek and toned like a swimmer's, his graceful neck and broad chest tapering to a slender waist. His cock was half-hard, lying plump across his thigh and already very promising. His legs matched his arms and his ankles were so delicate Thor was tempted to bite them.

"What's that look?" Loki asked, amused.

"Everything's so pretty, I'm just trying to decide where to start. Guess I can't go wrong with a classic, right?" He moved above Loki on his hands and knees, smiling down at him before dipping his head for a kiss.

It was a lot nicer this way, with no mechanical lurches or squeaks distracting them. "Mmmm," Loki purred into Thor's mouth. His arms came up around Thor's shoulders and they were _long_ , people usually couldn't reach that far around him. They settled about him so naturally, too, his joints perfectly placed to fit around Thor rather than sticking out at such odd angles that they barely touched at all like what usually happened.

Thor lowered himself to his elbows, making it easier to shift his weight to one side and free a hand to explore. Loki's skin was cool and smooth, like sliding a hand over a satin sheet. Thor stroked down one flank, his fingers dipping beneath as Loki arched up to meet him. It was only the promise of that lovely skin beneath his lips that made him able to leave off their kisses. He wandered down Loki's slender throat, nibbling at one earlobe before teasing at his pulse with delicate kitten-licks, trailing about his chest like a rambler who wanted no map.

He slicked his fingers and eased them inside, feeling his pulse race at Loki's quiet moan. "Mmm, you like that," Thor murmured. He drew back and pushed in again, twisting and scissoring, gentling the taut muscles into calmness. He had intended to carry on kissing everywhere he could reach, but soon Loki was grabbing at him with shaking hands, drawing him back up for meltingly sweet kisses.

Patience proved to be the most exquisite torment. Loki was tight and hot and wiggling deliciously beneath him, but it was also almost unspeakably lovely to shift his attention to Loki's cock, stroking it with his slippery fingers and feeling Loki pull the air from Thor's lungs as he gasped. Lovely, too, to roll him onto his front and kiss every light freckle on his pale back before sinking his teeth into pert, tempting cheeks while his fingers slipped between.

Thor was in the midst of discovering how much Loki enjoyed being licked on the insides of his thighs when Loki stretched them wide. "Now," he said. "Thor, please."

Thor looked up and found his eyes dark and burning. He rose to his hands and knees and crawled up the bed, Loki's hands upon him, taking in the ripple of his muscles as he moved. He dusted a line of kisses down Loki's jaw until he reached his ear. "You are delicious," Thor breathed.

Loki twisted, reaching for the condom and lube and instead slamming his shoulder into Thor's face. "Shit! Shit, are you okay? I'm sorry, I didn't mean-"

Thor sat up, laughing. "I'm fine. Pretty sure I still have all my teeth, even."

"Okay, good. Come on, then." Loki gave a luxurious stretch that was clearly intended to show off his body and make it impossible for Thor to delay another second. It worked. He had just enough patience left to be careful with the condom and then he was slicking himself and reslicking Loki and lowering his hips and pressing _in,_ into grasping heat as Loki moaned and arched his back.

Those long arms came back up around him, followed by even longer legs, and Loki was rolling his hips to match each heady glide inwards. He went as slowly as he could, gritting his teeth with self-restraint, until Loki was pleading with him in half-babbled words, _more_ and _yes_ and _faster, oh please._

Loki shifted his legs higher, moving them from Thor's legs to his waist, getting tighter and deeper and _impossible_ to resist, not when each thrust was met with the most erotic little moans Thor had ever heard. Thor was getting close and he reached between them, determined not to finish until Loki had found his pleasure. It took only three strokes before Loki was shaking, panting desperately as he spilled over Thor's hand. All his muscles grew taut with the strain of it and the added clenching around Thor's cock was too much and he went rigid, eyes squeezed so tightly that stars broke out in the blackness as he came.

When he drew back into himself and opened his eyes, Loki was watching him with a lazy smile. "That was good," he said.

"Very good," Thor agreed. He gave Loki a kiss before moving back, holding on to the condom as he withdrew. "Trash can?"

"Bathroom. Sorry. I always mean to get one in here."

"It's okay. Keep the sheets warm for me."

"Second door on the right."

"Thanks." Thor tied it off as he went down the hall and gave his cock a quick rinse before going back to bed. He settled in on his back and Loki shifted to his side, letting his arm rest across Thor's belly and scooting close enough to share Thor's pillow.

"Are you busy in the morning?"

Thor beamed at him. "Is that an invitation to spend the night?"

"It's an invitation to spend the night and take me out for breakfast."

"I would love to spend the night and take you out for breakfast."

"So you _are_ busy in the morning."

"So it would seem. Are you busy that afternoon?"

"Mmmm," Loki purred. "Is that an invitation?"

"That is most _definitely_ an invitation."

"Then yes. I'm planning to be very busy. For a very long time."


End file.
